COMPOSITE. (composite FAMILY.) 223 



of flesh-colored flowers. (Xamc of a-KXtjpus, hard, and Xfirir, a scale, from tfio 

 pappus.) 



1 . S. verticill^ta, Cass. — la water : pine barrens, Isew Jersey and 

 southward. Any. 



4. LIATRIS, Sehrel). Bltton Sxakekoot. Blazing-Star. 



Head several - many-flowered : flowers perfeet. Seales of tlic involuerc iin- 

 brieatfd, appressed. Keeejjtaelc nakeil. Corolla 5-lobed. Aelienia slender, 

 tapering to the base, about 10-ribbed. Pappus of 15-40 eapillary bristles, 

 which arc manifestly plumose, or only barbellate. — rcrcnnial herbs, often 

 resinous-dotted, with riyid alternate entire leaves (these sometimes twisted .-o 

 as to become vertical), and heads of handsome rose-purple flowers, spieatc, 

 racemose, or panieled-cymose, appearing late in summer or in autumn. (Deri- 

 vation of the name unknown.) 



§ 1. Stem usually icamUike and si m pic, from a fjlohular or roundish corm or tuber 

 (impreijnated with resiuous matter), very leaf i/ : leaves narrow or (jrass-l ike, 1- 

 5-nervcd: heads spicate or racemed: involucre well imbricated: lobes of the 

 corolla long and slenda: 



* Pappus vertj plumose ; srafcs of the ^-/lonrred involucre ivith ovale or lanceolate 



Sjircadimi petal -like (purple or sometimes white) tips, exceeding the fowers'i 



1. L. 61egans, Willd. Stem (3° -5° high) and involucre hairy; leaves 

 short and >prea(ling ; spike or raceme compact (1° long). — Barren soil, Vir- 

 ginia and soutliwanl. 



* » Pappus VI ry phnnosc : scales of the ri/lindrical mnnip/lowered involucre imbri- 



c(it(d in mauji rou-s, the tips rigid, not petal-like : corolla huirg within. 



2. L. squarr6sa, Willd. (Blazixg-Star, &e.) Often hairy (l°-30 

 high); leaves linear, elongated; heads few (1' long) ; scales of the inrolucre 

 mostlij with ehingaldl and leaf like spreading tips. — Dry soil, TcnnsylvaTiia to 

 Illinois and soutliwMrd. 



3. L. cylindr^cea, ]\Iichx. Commonly smooth (G'-IS' high); leaves 

 linear; heads few (i'-j' long) ; i-cales of the involucre with short and rounded ap- 

 pressed tips. — Dry o])en places, Niagara Falls to Wisconsin, and south westward. 



« * * Pappus not obviously plumose to the naked eye : corolla stnooth inside. 



4. L. scari6sa, Willd. Stem stout (2°-50high) pubescent or hoary; 

 leaves (smooth, rough, or pubescent) lanceolate ; the lowest o'llong-lanceolatr or 

 olwate-oblong, tai)ering into a petiole; heads few or many, large, 30-40-ilow- 

 cred ; .scedis of the broad or dipressid involucre ohovatc or sjtutulate, very numerous, 

 with dry and scarious of en colored tips or margins. — Dry soil, New England to 

 Minnesota, and southward. — Widely variable : heads 1' or less in diameter. 



,5. L. pil6sa, Willd. Beset with long scattered hairs ; stem stout; hares 

 linear or lincar-lanctolate, elongated; heads few, 1 - 1 .")-flowercd ; scales of the 

 to/)-shajwd or bell-shaped involucre slightly margined, the outer narrow'y oblong, very 

 ol/tuse, the innermost linear. — fountains of Virginia and southward : rare and 

 obscure. rerliai>s a remarkable state of the ne.\t ; but the flowers as largo 

 aa in the preceding. 



